The 8th Habit.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.” - henry david thoreau.

We studied the pain, understood the underlying problem, now let's set the stage for the solution. A theme that will follow for the rest of the book.

Covey has worked with organizations around the world for over thirty years and has been a student to many great minds and has studied many organizations. He is of the opinion that great cultural shifts - ones that have built great organizations that sustain long term growth , prosperity and contribution to the world - started with the choice of one person. Sometimes that one person was the formal leader - the CEO or president. But most often it began with someone down the line, a line manager , a professional or someone's assistant.Regardless of their position, these people changed themselves, inside - out. Their character, competence, initiative and positive energy - in short moral authority inspired and lifted others. They become noticed and more work is given to them. With the magnified responsibilities, they still produced positive results. The whole culture in the organization was drawn towards them.These people did not get sucked into or pulled by the negative , insulting and demoralizing forces in their organizations. The organizations they worked for were in a mess , but they did not wait for their organization to change. They initiated change within.They became an island of excellence in a sea of mediocrity. And that is contagious.

Where does a person get such internal strength to swim against the current and withstand negative cultural provocations and sustain such vision and determination?

They learn of their true nature and gifts. There is no looking back from then. They use these gifts to develop a vision of the great things they want to achieve. With wisdom, they take initiative and cultivate great understanding of the needs and opportunities around them. They meet those needs that match their unique talents, that tap their higher motivations that make a difference. In short, they find and use their voice. They serve and inspire others. They work for the perspective of the “whole paradigm”. Body, mind, heart and spirit.With equal importance they choose to influence and inspire others to find their voices.

This book is organized into two main sections.1. Find your voice.2. Inspire others to find their voice.“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” Robert Frost.

Diagram 1 will be a pivotal figure that we will use for the rest of our journey, so take a good look at it. It is attached at the end of the mail.

every one chooses one of the two roads in life. Doesn't matter who. Old and young, rich and poor, men and women alike. One is the broad, well travelled road to mediocrity, and the other is the road to greatness and meaning. -“The range of possibilities that exist within these two destinations is as wide as the diversity of gifts and personalities in the human family. But the contrast between the two destinations is as the night is to day.”

The path to mediocrity blocks human potential. It is a quick fix, short cut approach to life. The path to greatness is a process. A sequential growth from the inside out. Traveler's on the lower path, live out the cultural “software” of ego, indulgence, comparison, victimism, and competitiveness. Traveler's on the upper path to greatness rise above negative cultural influences and choose to become the creative force of their lives. In a word : they find their “Voice”. Those on this path find their voice and inspire others to do so.

“Deep within each one of us there is an inner longing to live a life of greatness and contribution - To really matter, to really make a difference. We may doubt ourselves and our ability to do so, but I want you to know of my deep conviction that you can live such a life. You have the potential within you. We all do. It is the birthright of the Human family” - Covey.

We all have the power to decide to live a great life, or even simpler, to have not only a good day but a great day. No matter how long we've walked in life's path way to mediocrity, we can always CHOOSE to switch tracks. Always. Its never too late. We can find our voice. Once you make that choice, the pathway is then to..

#1. Discover your voice. We will learn to discover it in the chapter's that follow by coming to understand our true nature, what covey calls, our three “Magnificent birth gifts”, and by developing and using with integrity the intelligence tied to each of the four parts of our nature (physical, mental, social and spiritual)...

Once we find our voices, we can choose to expand our influences by inspiring others to find their voices. Inspire (from Latin : inspirare ) means to breath life into another. As we recognize , respect and create ways for others to give voice to all four parts of their nature - Physically, mentally, socially and spiritually - we unleash something in them. We unleash, latent human genius, creativity, passion , talent and motivation! It will be this mass of people, who when begin work in organizations, will raise the level of productivity, innovation and leadership in the market place and society.

Stephen covey tells us that to initiate powerful change and growth in our lives and organizations, through this book we must follow two simple ideas.This is his Promise. #1. Teach others what you learn. #2. Systematically apply what you learn - To do it!

For this covey tells us about an incident in his life, where when he first began teaching there were hardly any students for his classes. The common paradigm was the fewer students in a class greater would be the efficiency in teaching. So he had about 15 students in his class room. Then, he attended a visiting professor's seminar on how to teach. It was there that he learned about the technique mentioned above. He began to apply it in his class room. He would teach, but insist that his student share and teach others. Before he knew it, his classes were packed with thousands of students! Each one learning and then teaching. And their grades actually went up. Why? Because when we teach we learn better. Most of us already know this.Every student in his class assumed two roles. One , that of a student, and the other that of a teacher.

Another caution he points out is this:Integrate what you learn into your life. Because “To know and not to do, is really not to know.” To learn and not to do is not to learn. In other words, to understand something and not apply it, is really not to understand it. I learned this in japan too. Infact, it is the most important thing for them.“ It is only in the doing, the applying, that Knowledge and understanding are internalized.”For eg: you could study table tennis as a sport by reading books and hearing lectures, but until you have actually played it, you would never know the sport. “To Know and not to do is not to Know”.

“Self knowledge is best learned, not by contemplation, but by action. Strive to do your duty and you will soon discover what stuff you are made of.”- Johann Goethe.

With this email we move into part 1 of the 8th Habit. “Find your voice”. Consider the words of abraham lincoln. “The dogma's of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present.” We must think anew. We must not only develop a new mind set but also a new skill set and new tool set that flows from it. This is not easy because it throws us out of our comfort zones. But a new reality has emerged, a new economy , a new challenge. This new challenge requires a new response, a new habit! We just don't want to survive in this new challenge, we want to thrive in it. Always remember, that the habits lie in the intersection of Knowledge , attitude and skill. As you develop these three dimensions of the 8th habit, you will increasingly become equal to the new challenge and pave the way to unlimited possibilities.... We all have the power to decide to live a great life, or even simpler, to have not only a good day but a great day. No matter how long we've walked in life's path way to mediocrity, we can always CHOOSE to switch tracks. Always. Its never too late. We can find our voice. Once you make that choice, the pathway is then to..

#1. Discover your voice. We will learn to discover it in the chapter's that follow by coming to understand our true nature, what covey calls, our three “Magnificent birth gifts”, and by developing and using with integrity the intelligence tied to each of the four parts of our nature (physical, mental, social and spiritual)...

Once we find our voices, we can choose to expand our influences by inspiring others to find their voices. Inspire (from Latin : inspirare ) means to breath life into another. As we recognize , respect and create ways for others to give voice to all four parts of their nature - Physically, mentally, socially and spiritually - we unleash something in them. We unleash, latent human genius, creativity, passion , talent and motivation! It will be this mass of people, who when begin work in organizations, will raise the level of productivity, innovation and leadership in the market place and society.

Stephen covey tells us that to initiate powerful change and growth in our lives and organizations, through this book we must follow two simple ideas.This is his Promise. #1. Teach others what you learn. #2. Systematically apply what you learn - To do it!

For this covey tells us about an incident in his life, where when he first began teaching there were hardly any students for his classes. The common paradigm was the fewer students in a class greater would be the efficiency in teaching. So he had about 15 students in his class room. Then, he attended a visiting professor's seminar on how to teach. It was there that he learned about the technique mentioned above. He began to apply it in his class room. He would teach, but insist that his student share and teach others. Before he knew it, his classes were packed with thousands of students! Each one learning and then teaching. And their grades actually went up. Why? Because when we teach we learn better. Most of us already know this.Every student in his class assumed two roles. One , that of a student, and the other that of a teacher.

Another caution he points out is this:Integrate what you learn into your life. Because “To know and not to do, is really not to know.” To learn and not to do is not to learn. In other words, to understand something and not apply it, is really not to understand it. I learned this in japan too. Infact, it is the most important thing for them.“ It is only in the doing, the applying, that Knowledge and understanding are internalized.”For eg: you could study table tennis as a sport by reading books and hearing lectures, but until you have actually played it, you would never know the sport. “To Know and not to do is not to Know”.

“Self knowledge is best learned, not by contemplation, but by action. Strive to do your duty and you will soon discover what stuff you are made of.”- Johann Goethe.

With this email we move into part 1 of the 8th Habit. “Find your voice”. Consider the words of abraham lincoln. “The dogma's of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present.” We must think anew. We must not only develop a new mind set but also a new skill set and new tool set that flows from it. This is not easy because it throws us out of our comfort zones. But a new reality has emerged, a new economy , a new challenge. This new challenge requires a new response, a new habit! We just don't want to survive in this new challenge, we want to thrive in it. Always remember, that the habits lie in the intersection of Knowledge , attitude and skill. As you develop these three dimensions of the 8th habit, you will increasingly become equal to the new challenge and pave the way to unlimited possibilities....

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Imagine for a moment that you step back in time and are a hunter and a gatherer of food. Each day you go out with a bow and arrow, wait patiently, make a kill and provide for your family. As generations pass, the agricultural age comes up and you have a neighbour who is into farming. You instantly notice that his produce is almost 50 times more than what you can do as a hunter and gatherer. Now, if he persuaded you to become a “farmer”, what would your response be? You would see him go out to the field, scratch the soil, plant some seeds, watering the soil, removing weeds and so on, but you see no output immediately (unlike hunting). But eventually, you take notice of his yield, fifty times greater than yours. What would you do? You would likely say to yourself “ Even if wanted to become one, I just don't have the required skill sets. ” Now your farmer neighbour is making a lot of money and sending his kids to school to give them bigger opportunities. Little by little, you go through the intense learning process of becoming a farmer. You raise your children and grandchildren to be farmers. This is what happened in our earlier generations. This procedure led to the downsizing of hunters and gatherers by 90 % ; they lost their jobs. Several years pass, and then comes the industrial age. People build factories and learn specialization, delegation and scalability. They learn how to take raw materials through an assembly line with very high levels of efficiency. The productivity of the industrial age goes up fifty times over the family farm. Now if you were a farmer who was out producing hunters by fifty times and all of a sudden you find factories out producing you by 100 times. What would you say? You might be jealous, even threatened. So, now to be a player here, you would need a new skill set. The fact remains that industrialization downsized 90% of the farmers. Today, in a developed country like the United States, only 3% of the people are farmers, and they provide food for almost the entire nation and too by using industrial techniques or maintaining an industrialized farm.

So from the hunter & Gatherer age we moved onto being Farmer's and from there we moved onto industrialization, but Now we enter a new era.. The era of the Knowledge worker age. This age will out produce the industrial age by 50 times if not more! We're just beginning to see tip of the ice berg of this change. Nathan Myhrvold, Former Ceo at Microsoft, puts it this way : “The top software developers are more productive than the average software developer not by a factor of 10X or 100X or even 1000X, but by 10,000X”.

Quality Knowledge work is so valuable that unleashing its potential offer's organizations an extra ordinary opportunity for value creation. Covey believes that in the near future The knowledge worker Age will eventually bring about downsizing of up to 90 percent of the industrial Age work force. The current out sourcing and unemployment trends in the states are just the tip of the ice berg. The economy is dramatically shifting to the Knowledge worker age. Do you think today's work force is going to feel threatened by the new mind set, the new skill set and the new tool set of this Age? Imagine what it will take for you to be a player in this era. Imagine what it will require for your organization!

The great Peter Drucker compares the industrial - Manual worker age with Today's Knowledge worker age in this way :

The most important, and indeed truly unique, contribution of management in the 20th century was the fifty fold increase in the productivity of the MANUAL WORKER in manufacturing. The most important contribution management needs to make in the 21st century is similarly to increase the productivity of “Knowledge work”and the “Knowledge worker”.The most valuable assets of the 20th century was the production equipment. The most valuable asset of a 21st century institution whether business or non business, will be its knowledge workers and their productivity.

The great historian Arnold Toynbee said that you could pretty well summarize the history of society and institutions in it in four words : “Nothing fails like success.” In other words , when you have a challenge and the response is equal to that challenge , you have success. But , once you have a new challenge, the old once - successful response no longer works. That's why it’s called failure.

We live in a “Knowledge worker” Age but operate our organizations in a controlling industrial age model that suppresses the release of human potential. Voice is essentially irrelevant. The “thing” mind set of industrial age that still dominates today's workplace will simply not work in the Knowledge worker age and new economy. And the unfortunate fact is .. That people have taken this same controlling mind - set home. So often it dominates the way we communicate with our friends and family.

The thing mind set of the industrial Age : The main assets and the primary driver's of economic prosperity in the industrial age were machines and capital - Things. People were necessary but always replaceable. They could be controlled through little consequence. There was always an excess supply of man power. You could always get more able bodies to comply with strict procedures. When all you want is a person's body and you don't really want their mind, heart and spirit ( all inhibitor's to the free flowing processes of the industrial age ) you have reduced a person to a thing. Many our management practices today spring from the industrial age. It gave us the belief that you have to control and manage people. It gave us our view of accounting, which makes people an expense and machine assets. If you know anything on accounts you would realize this. People are put on the P&L statement as an expense; equipment is put on the balance sheet as an investment or Asset.It gave us our “carrot and stick” motivational philosophy. The great Jack ass technique that motivates in the front with a carrot (reward) and drives with a stick from the behind (fear and punishment).Manager's today are still applying the industrial control model to Knowledge workers. Because, people in authority do not possess a complete, accurate understanding of human nature, they manage the work force like things. But this lack of understanding fails these manager's from tapping into the highest potentials of the work force.What happens when people are constantly treated like things? It insults and alienates them, depersonalizes work, and creates low trust, unionized and litigious cultures.

The downward spiral of co dependency -What happens when you manage people like things? They stop believing that leadership can become a choice. Most people think of leadership as a position and there fore don't see themselves as leaders. Making personal leadership (influence) a choice is like having freedom to play the piano. It is a freedom that has to be earned - Only then can leader ship become a choice.Until then, People think that only those in positions of Authority should decide what must be done. They have consented, perhaps unconsciously, to being controlled like a thing. They wait to be given an order by someone with a formal title before they can act. Consequently, they blame the formal leader when things go wrong and give him or her credit when things go well. And they are thanked for their “co- operation and support” in turn.

This widespread reluctance to take initiative , to act independently, only fuels formal leader's imperative to direct and manage their subordinates.They believe they have to do this to get people to follow them. The more a manager control's , the more he/ she evokes behavior's that necessitate greater control or managing. The co dependent culture that results is eventually “institutionalized” to the point that no one takes responsibility. Over time, both leader's and followers confirm to their roles in an unconscious pact. They disempower themselves by believing that other's must change before their own circumstances must improve.

As you read this.. Aren't you feeling that the people who really need to be reading this aren't reading it?

That very thought from you reflects co dependency. If you look at this material through the weaknesses of another, you disempower yourself and empower their weakness to continue to suck initiative, energy and excitement from your life.

The setting for this short film is the workplace. But remember.. Every one has a work place. For students and teacher's its the school. For most of us, it our place of work or business organizations. For families, it is the Home. For other's it is in a community club, or a mosque , church or temple.This isn't just about work, it is about human relationships and interactions with people united in a common purpose. Covey challenges each of us to translate the setting of this film into every other area of our life where we interact with others. World over, Many people resonate with this film both organizationally and personally.Sit back and enjoy the film.

... Think about the film you just watched. Max, like most of us began his job with tremendous enthusiasm and fire. When he takes initiative to get and keep customer's his Boss Mr. Harold gets tough. Max is micro managed and controlled to the point where is spirit is broken, and he becomes shy and loses his vision of purpose, potential and freedom to choose. He's lost his voice. He swears never to take initiative again. He gradually becomes like Max the Dog, waiting for his next command. We might be tempted to blame Mr. Harold, but notice that his boss treats him pretty much the same way as he treats max. So, in Max's organization such insulting micro managing is endemic throughout the organization. The whole culture in the organization is that reactive codependency. No one is exercising leadership (initiative and influence) because everyone assumes leadership is a function of position.

Covey says that most organizations are filled with a similar set back. Even the best organizations he has worked with. The problems are only becoming more evident in the Knowledge worker age. These challenges generally fall into three categories :1.Organizational 2. Relationship3. Personal.

At the organizational level, a controlling management philosophy drives performance , communication, compensation ( or rewards), training and other core systems that suppress human talent and voice. As discussed earlier this springs from the “thing” mind set of the industrial age.

At the level of relationships , there is a fundamental lack of trust, and many lack the “skill and mind set” to work out differences in authentic, creative ways. A belief system based on “you tell me and I will act” takes over. And the upper management believe “I must say and they will act”. This is what covey means by “codependency”. Leadership is lost. The “codependency” is also compounded by the fact that so many people have been raised being compared to others at home and competing against others in school, in athletics and in the work place. These powerful influences cultivate a “scarcity mentality”, so that many people have a hard time being genuinely happy for success of others.

At the personal level all of these organizations are filled with bright , talented and creative people who are straightjacketed, uninspired and undervalued. They are often frustrated and don't believe they can change things.

The Power of a Paradigm -

“Most ailing organizations have developed a functional blindness to their own defects. They are not suffering because they cannot resolve their problems, but because they cannot see their problems” - John Gardner. And Albert Einstein put the same thing like this : “ The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”

The above statements underscore one of the most profound things covey has come to learn. If you want to make minor changes in your life, work on practices, behavior or attitude. But if you want to make significant , quantum improvement, work on “paradigms” ( pronounced para -- dime). The word paradigm stems from the greek work “paradiegma”, originally a scientific term but commonly used to mean assumption, perception, theory , frame of reference, or lens through which you view the world. Its like a map of a territory or a city. If inaccurate, it will make no difference how hard you try to find your destination. You will always be lost. If accurate, then diligence and attitude matter. But not until.

As an example to illustrate this covey makes use of the principle of blood letting that was used before germ theory came into awareness. What was the paradigm? There's bad stuff in your blood. Get it out and you'll be fine. Now, if you didn't question that paradigm what would you do? Go to a place where the facilities for blood letting were more comfortable? More painless? Can you imagine what happened when the “Germ theory” was discovered - when the pasteur of France, and other scientists discovered that germs are the primary cause of disease? It immediately explained why women wanted to be delivered by mid wives. The midwives were cleaner. They washed. It explained why more men on war's battle field were dying from staph infections than bullets. The disease was spread from behind the front ranks through germs. The germ theory opened whole new fields of research. It guides health practices to this day. That's the power of an accurate paradigm. It explains, and then guides. But false paradigm's like traditions, die hard. Flawed paradigm's go on for centuries before a new one takes over. For instance , though history books talk about george washington dying of a throat infection, he probably died of blood letting. The throat infection was a symptom of something else. Since the paradigm at that time was that of blood letting, they took from him several pints of blood. You and I are counseled not to give more than one pint every two months if we're well.

The new knowledge worker age is based on a new paradigm, one entirely different from the “thing” paradigm of the industrial age. Let's call it the “Whole person paradigm”.

The Whole Person Paradigm..

Refer fig 1 & fig 2.

At the core, there is one simple, over arching reason why so many people remain unsatisfied in their work and why most organizations fail to draw out talent and creativity of their people and in turn don't become truly great and enduring organizations.It stems from an incomplete paradigm of who we are - our fundamental view of human nature.

Human beings are not “things” needing to be motivated and controlled; they are four dimensional - body, mind , heart and spirit.

All philosophy and religion, both western and eastern from the beginning of recorded history, have the four same dimensions : the physical (economic), the mental, the social and the spiritual. Different words are often used, but they reflect the same universal dimensions of life. They also represent the four basic needs and motivations of all people.To live (survival), To love (relationships), To learn (growth and development) and to leave a legacy (meaning and contribution)..

People have choices ...

.. And this is why the controlling “thing” approach of the industrial age is no longer relevant. Managements failure to inspire their organizations people to put in their highest talent and contributions boil down to one simple truth. - People make choices. People decide how much of themselves they will give up to their work depending on how they are treated and on their opportunities to use all four parts of their nature.

These choices range from.. Rebelling to Creative excitement. These choices you would make under the following scenario's...

Refer fig 3.

Firstly, your not treated Kindly, not paid for the level of your contribution. Your work is mundane. And there is a lot of politics at play.. What would your choice be?

Second, Let's say your paid fairly well, but not treated Kindly. You are not respected. Your treatment is inconsistent.. Often depending on the mood of your boss.. What would your choice be?

Third, let's say you are paid fairly, treated kindly, but only when your opinion is wanted, it is given to you..In other words, your body and heart are valued but... Your mind (creatively) is subdued..

Fourth, let's say you are paid well, treated kindly, and used creatively.. But you are asked to dig a hole and fill it again. Or just keep filling reports that no one sees or uses.. In other words your work is meaningless. Your spirit is affected. What would your choice be?

Fifth, let's say you are valued in mind, body , heart and spirit (meaningful work), but there is a lot of cheating going on in your company with respect to customers, suppliers and other workers.. What would your choice be?

Notice that we went through all four parts.. Mind, body, heart and spirit (spirit divided into two - meaningless work and unprincipled work)..the point here is if you neglect any of these four parts, you turn the human being into a “thing”, and what do you do with “things”? You have to control, manage and motivate them with the “carrot and stick” approach..

World over, organizations people fall in the last three categories, people would rebel or quit, maliciously obey (meaning they'll do it hoping it doesn't work), or at best willingly comply. In today's “Knowledge worker age”, only one who is respected as a whole person can commit to the upper three choices of cheerful cooperation, heartfelt commitment or creative excitement. He is paid fairly, treated Kindly, used creatively and given opportunities to serve human needs in principled ways.

Thus the core problems in our work places and the core solution to these problems lie in our flawed paradigm of human nature. And this is the same paradigm that we carry into other venues of our life. Be it home or a social club. This industrial Age “thing” and all the practices that flow from it are the modern equivalent of blood letting.

Okay , we’ve just covered the second chapter and we have another chapter to go before we begin work on the 8th habit. So , take your time , go through it and keep smiling.

“no one really appreciates me . My bossdoesn’t have a clue of what I am capable of.”

“I don’t feel especially needed – not at work, not by my friends, not by my family, not by my neighbours and community – except to pay the bills”.

“I’m frustrated and discouraged.”

“I’m just not making enough to make ends meet. I never seem to get ahead.”

“Maybe I don’t have what it takes”

“I’m not making a difference.”

“I feel empty inside. My life lacks meaning; something’s missing.”

“I am angry, I’m scared. I can’t afford to lose my job.”

“I’m lonely.”

“I’m stressed out, everything is urgent.”

“With friends and parents who don’t understand, home is no better than work.”

“I can’t change things.”

…………………………………………

These are the voices of a million people, at work and home. Voices of millions of workers, service provider’s, managers, entrepreneurs, professionals and executivesall over the world who are fighting to make it in the new reality we live in. The pain is personal and deep. You may relate to a few of them yourself.As Carl rogers said “ what is most personal is most general.”

Covey then explains using adata questionnaire which shows how poorly people are engaged in the work they do. Around the world, organizations know that their work force is limited to doing far less than their true capabilities, but are not allowed to do so. This of course also relates to how poorly majority of us live with respect to how immensely potent we are.Some people are engaged, contributing and energized by their work… But far too few. Despite all our gains in technology, Product innovation and world markets, most people are not thriving in the organizations they work for. They are neither fulfilled nor excited.They are not frustrated. They are not clear about where the organization is headed or what it’s highest priorities are. They are bogged down and distracted. Most of all, they don’t feel they can change much.

Why an 8thHABIT?

The world has profoundly changed since the 7 habits were first published in 1989. The challenges and complexity we face in our personal lives and relationships, in our families , in our professional lives, and in our organizations are of a different order of magnitude. We now live in the “Information age”, the birth of a new reality, a sea change of incredible significance – a truly new era.

So, for us , who have studied the 7 HABITS or want to study them, are they significant anymore? Covey is asked this many times world over, and his answer is always the same. The greater the change and ,more difficult the challenges, the more relevant the 7 habits become! The seven habits are about becoming highly effective. They represent a complete framework of universal, timeless principles of character and human effectiveness.

Being effective as individuals and organizations is no longer optional in today’s world – it is the price of entry into the playing field! To survive , thrive, innovate , excel and lead in this new reality requires us to build on and reach beyond effectiveness. The call and the need for the new era is for Greatness. It’s for fulfilment , passionate execution, and significant contribution. Tapping into the higher reaches of human genius and motivation – what we would call voice – requires a new mind set, a new skill set, a new tool set………a new habit.

The 8th Habit, then, is not about adding a habit to the 7 habits that somehow got forgotten. It’s about seeing and harnessing the power of a third dimension to the 7 habits that meets the central challenge of the new knowledge age. Thus, the 8th habit is stated as: Find your Voice and inspire others to find theirs.

The 8th habit represents the pathway to the enormously promising side of today’s reality. It stands in stark contrast to the pain and frustrated voices we first heard. In fact,it is a timeless reality. It is the voice of the human spirit – full of hope and intelligence, resilient by nature, boundless in its potential to serve the common good. This voice also encompasses the soul of organizations that will survive , thrive and profoundly impact the future of the world.

Voice is unique personal significance – it lies in the centre of talent (your natural gifts and strengths), passion(those things that naturally energize, motivate and inspire you), need ( what the world needs to pay you enough for), conscience (that small , still voice within that assures you of what is right and that prompts you to actually do it.) Thus , when you engage in any work that taps your talent and fuels your passion – that rise out of a great need in your “immediate” world that you feel drawn by your conscience to meet – therein lies your voice, your calling, your soul’s code.

There is a deep , innate, inexpressible yearning within each of us to find our voice in life.The explosion of the internet is a powerful modern manifestation of this yearning in humankind. The internet is the perfect symbol of the new world. I include an excerpt from the 1999 book “cluetrain manifesto” about this :

“All of us are finding our voices again. Learning how to talk to one another. Inside , Outside, there’s a conversation going on today that wasn’t happening at all five years ago and hasn’t been very much in evidence since the industrial revolution began. Now , spanning the planet via internet and world wide web, this conversation is so vast, so multifaceted, that trying to figure out what it is about is futile. It’s about a billion years of pent up hopes and fears and dreams coded in serpentine double helixes, the collective flashback déjà vu of our strange and perplexing species. Something ancient, elemental, scared, something very, very funny that’s broken loose in the pipes and wires of the twenty first century.

…..There are millions and millions of threads in this conversation, but at the beginning and the end of each one is a human being……

This fervid desire for the web bespeaks a longing so intense that it can only be understood as spiritual. A longing indicates something is missing in our lives. What is missing is the sound of the human voice. The spiritual lure of the web is the promise of the return of Voice!”

Covey further illustrates the “voice” through a true story from our own subcontinent. From the land of Bangladesh.Mohammed yunus, founder of the Grameen bank – A Unique organization established for the sole purpose of extending microcredit to the poorest of the poor in Bangladesh . Yunus says he never had any vision to begin with. He simply saw someone in need, tried to fill it and the vision evolved. Mohammed yunus’s vison of a poverty free world was set in motion with an event on the streets of Bangladesh. He shared the following tale with Covey.

“it all began twenty five years ago. I was teaching economics at a universityin Bangladesh. The country was in the middle of a famine. I felt terrible. Here I was , teaching the elegant theories of economics in the class room with all the enthusiasm of a brand new Ph.D from the united states. But I would walk out of the classroom and see skeletons all around me, people waiting to die.

I felt that whatever I had learned, whatever I was teaching, was all make believe stories, with no meaning for people’s lives. So I started trying to find out how people lived in the village next door to the university campus. I wanted to find out whether there was anything I could do as a human beingto stop or delay the death, for a single human being. I abandoned my bird’s eye view that lets you see everything from the above, from the sky. I assumed a worms view, trying to find whatever comes in front of you – smell it, touch it, and see if you can do anything about it.

One particular incident took me in a new direction.I met a woman who was making bamboo stools. After a long discussion, I found out that she worked for 2 U.S pennies a day. I couldn’t believe that someone could work so hard and make such beautiful stool’s and yet make such a tiny profit. She explained to me that she didn’t have the money to buy the bamboo to make the stools. She had tobuy them from a trader. And the trader had imposed the condition that she had to sell the product to him alone, at a price he decided.

And that explains the two pennies – she was virtually in bonded labor to this person. And how much did the bamboo cost? She said “Oh about 20 cents. For a very good one 25 cents.” I thought, “peoplesuffer for 20 cents and there is nothing anyone can do about it?” I debated whether I should give her 20 cents, but then I came up with another idea – let me make a list of people who needed this kind of money. I took a student of mine and we went around the village for several days and came up with a list of forty two such people. When I added the total amount that they needed, I got the biggest shock of my life : it added up to 27 dollars! I felt ashamed of myself for being part of a society which could not even provide 27 dollars to 42 hardworking, skilled human beings.

To escape that shame, I took money out of my pocket and gave it to my students and said “Take this money and give it to those forty two people that we met and tell them this is a loan, but they can pay me back whenever they are able to. In the meantime they can sell their products wherever they can get a good price.”

After receiving the money, they were very excited. And seeing they’re excitement made me think, “what do I do now?” I thought of the bank branch which was locatedon the campus of the university, and I went to the manager and suggested that he lend money to the poor people that I had met in the village. He fell from the sky! He said “ you are crazy! It’s impossible. How could we lend money to poor people? They are not credit worthy.” I pleaded with him and said “Atleast give it a try – it’s only a small amount of money.” He said , “No, our rules don’t permit it. They cannot offer collateral, and such a tiny amount is not worth lending.” He suggested that I see high banking official in the banking hierarchy.

I took his advice and wentto see the peoplewho matter in the banking section. Everybody told me the same thing. Finally, after several days of running around I offered myself as a guarantor. “I’ll guarantee the loan. I’ll sign wherever they want me to sign, and they can give me the money and I’ll give it to the people that I want to.”

So that was the beginning. They warned me repeatedly that the poor people would cheat me. I said “I’ll take a chance.”, and surprisingly they repaid every penny I’d lent them. I got very excited and told the manager “look, they pay back, there’s no problem.” But he said,” oh, no they’re just fooling you. Soon they will take more money and never pay you back.” So I gave them more money, and they paid me back. I told this to him, but he said, “Well, maybe you can do it with one village, but if you do it in two villages it won’t work.” And I hurriedly did it in two villages – and it worked.

So it became a struggle between me and the bank manager and his colleagues in the highest positions. They kept saying that a larger number, five villages probably will show it. So I did it in five villages, and it only showed that everybody paid back. Still they didn’t give up. They said “ten villages. Fifty villages .one hundred villages.” And thus it became a contest between me and them. I came up with results they could not deny because it was their money I was giving, but would not accept it because they were trained to believe that poor people are not reliable. I was not trained that way so I could believe whatever I was seeing, as it revealed itself. But the bankers minds, trhier eyes were blinded by the knowledge they had.

Finally, I had the thought, why am I trying to convince them? I am totally convinced that poor people can take money and pay it back. Why don’t we set up a separate bank? That excited me, and I wrote down the proposal and went to the government to get the permission to set up a bank. It took me two years to convince the government. On October 2nd 1983 , we became a bank – a formal, independent bank. And what excitement it was for all of us, now that we had our own bank and we could expand as we wished. And expand we did!

Grameen bank now works in more than 46,000 villages in Bangladesh, through 1,267 branches and over 12,000 staff members!! They have lent more than $ 4.5 billion, in loans of twelve to fifteen dollars averaging under 200$ . Each yearthey lend about half a billion dollars. They even lend to beggars to help them come out of begging and start selling. A housing loan is 300 $. These are of course small numbers to those of us who are in business. But think in terms of the individual impact : to lend $500 million annually required 3.7 million people, 96% of whom are women, to make a decision that they could and would take steps to change their lives and the lives of the their families; 3.7 million people had to decide that they were capable of creating change; 3.7 million people survived the sleepless night to show up trembling but committed at the Grameen office the next morning. At the heart of this empowerment lie individual women who chose individually and in synergistic norm – producing groups to become self- reliant, independent entrepreneurs producing goods out of their own homes or neighbourhoods or backyards to become economically viable and successful. They found their voices.

Covey emphasises that from interviewing the world’s great leaders he realizes that their sense of vision and voice has usually evolved slowly. There are exceptions of course. Some may have a vision of what is possible suddenly burst upon their consciousness. But generally, the visions come as people sense human need and respond to their conscience in trying to meet that need. And when they meet that need, they see another, and meet that, and on and on. Little by little, they begin to generalize this sense of need and start thinking of ways to institutionalize their efforts so they can be sustained.

Muhammad Yunus is an example of a man who did exactly that – sensed human need and responded to conscience by applying his talent and passion to meet that need – first personally, and then in building trust and searching for creative solutions to problems, and finally institutionalizing the capacity to fill the needs of society through an organization. He found his voice in inspiring others to find theirs. The microcredit movement is now spreading across the world!

At this point I find myself reflecting on a meeting I attended yesterday. There is a large hearted doctor who happens to be my neighbour as well as my uncle, and he saw many human lives enmeshed in poverty and the tragedy of not even having a firm roof above their heads. He came together with the Kerala Action force and Film actor Dileep’ssocial organization to put together new houses for these people. I have been to atleast four of these functions where they hand over the key to these people, and it is quite an experience. There is a profound sense of gratitude and relief as they take the keys. For them, it is a new start, a start with a firm roof to sleep under. The doctor must have also sensed human need amongst his poor patients and responded to his conscience by applying his talent and passion to meet that need.

The pain – the problem – the solution

The purpose of this book is to give us a road map that will lead us from the pain and frustration to true fulfilment, relevance, significance and contribution in today’s landscape – not just in your work and organization, but your whole life. In short, this book will lead us to find our VOICES. If you so choose , it will also lead you to expand your influence regardless of your position – inspiring others you care about, your team and your organization to find their voices and increase many fold their effectiveness growth and impact. You will discover that such influence and leadership comes by choice, not from position or rank.

The best and often only way to break through the pain to a lasting solution is to first understand the fundamental problem causing the pain. In this case, much of the problem lies in behaviour that flows through a flawed paradigm or view of human nature – one that undermines people’s sense of worth and straitjackets (limits) their talents and potential.

The solution to the problem is like most significant breakthroughs in human history – it comes from a fundamental break with old ways of thinking. The promise of this sharing is that if we be patient and pay the price of understanding the root problem and then set a course of living the timeless , universal principles embodied in the solution outlined in this book, your influence will steadily grow from the inside – out ; you will find your voice and will inspire your team and organization to find theirs in a dramatically changed world.

This chapter briefly touches on the painful reality.

Chapter 2 identifies the core problem. Understanding this deeply entrenched problem will shed profound light on the challenges we face personally, in our family and work relationships and in organizations in which we spend much of our lives. It will require some mental effort, but the investment of delving into the human side of what has happened in organizations over the last century will give you the key paradigm for the rest of the book and will begin to give you wisdom, guidance and power in dealing with many of the most significant personal and relationship challenges and opportunities that you face.

So hang in there; I promise you it will be worth it.

Chapter 3 provides an overview of the 8th habit solution that unfolds in the remainder of the book .

In each of the chapter’s covey has included a short video that enhances the material we read. This chapter has a video that is titled “Legacy”. It will give you a few moments to reflect on core elements of your voice and four corresponding universal human needs – living , loving, learning and leaving a legacy. This video subtly communicates the book’s one basic paradigm discussed in the next chapter – the WHOLE PERSON model.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

To focus on technique is like cramming your way through high school. You sometimes get by, perhaps even get good grades, but if you don’t pay the price day in and day out, you will never achieve true mastery of subjects you study or develop an educated mind. -Stephen R Covey.

Life as i knew it changed forever in the summer of 2009. What began as a casual read deeply influenced the way i saw “Life”. I do not mean that i read some book, and life was changed bang on! Nopes, far from it, reading the book made me realize that i was living in a “safe zone”. And that constant dwelling in the “safe zone” made me plain miserable. Miserable for me and of course there’s no denying that i was making people close to me miserable as well. Now, that was an epiphany of a kind for me, because for the first time ever, i was awakening to reality. Suddenly, here i was bombarded with infinite questions. Where am i going?Is this what i want? And so on. That is what the book did. It threw open the flood gates for effective change, and it also brought in “the law of attraction”.Before i knew it, i was attracting people, events and books that were eerily answers to the questions i was asking! No longer was i clinging on to a safe zone. The realm of the unknown was exciting. One of the best things that happened while reading the 7 habits was to teach another about them. Again, i was experiencing a feeling, i had long forgotten. Back in school or college, when we had learned some part of a subject well, there was this profound sense of satisfaction in explaining it to someone else. I was getting to do that again. So there i was, in my philosophical best, taking long walks in the twilight, around the sprawling Cochin university campus teaching what i had learned. In that sharing came about a fresh perspective about the things i was reading.Another human being’s priceless perspective.And that is what i intend to achieve by sharing the 8th Habit with you.

Before i get started on the 8TH Habit, let me just review the seven habits of highly effective people.

Habit 1: Be Proactive.

Being proactive is more than taking initiative.It is accepting responsibility for our own behaviour (past present and future) and making choices based on principles and values rather than on moods or circumstances. Proactive people are agents of change and choose not to be victims, to be reactive or to blame others. They do this by developing and using the four unique human gifts – self awareness, conscience, imagination, and independent will – and by taking an inside – out approach to creating change. They resolve to be the creative force in their own lives, which is the most fundamental decision anyone ever makes.

Habit 2:Begin with end in Mind.

All things are created twice – first mentally, second physically. Individuals, families, teams, organizations shape their own future by creating a mental vision and purpose for any project. They don’t just live day to day without a clear purpose in mind. They mentally identify and commit themselves to the principles, values, relationships and purposes that matter most to them. A mission statement is the highest form of mental creation for an individual, a family or an organization. It is the primary decision because it governs all the other decisions. Creating a culture behind a shared mission, vision and values is the essence of leadership.

Habit 3 : Put first things first

Putting first things first is the second or physical creation. It is organizing and executing around the mental creation. (Your purpose, vision, values and most important priorities). Second things do not come first. First things do not come second. Individuals and organizations focus on what matters most, urgent or not. The main thing then, is to keep the main thing the main thing!

Habit 4 : Think Win – Win.

Thinking win – win is a frame of mind and heart that seeks mutual benefit and is based on mutual respect in all interactions. Its about thinking in terms of abundance – an ever expanding “pie”, a cornucopia of opportunity, wealth and recourses – rather than scarcity and adversarial competition. Its not thinking selfishly (win – lose) or like a martyr (lose – win). In our work and family life, members think interdependently – in terms of “we”, not “me”. Thinking win – win encourages conflict resolution and helps individuals seek mutually beneficial solutions. Its sharing information, power, recognition and rewards.

Habit 5 : Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

When we listen with the intent to understand others, rather than with the intent to reply, we begin true communication and relationship building. When others feel understood first, they feel affirmed and valued, defences are lowered, and opportunitiesto speak openly and to be understood come much more naturally and easily. Seeking to understand takes kindness; seeking to be understood takes courage. Effectiveness lies in balancing the two.

Habit 6 : Synergize

Synergy is about producing a third alternative – not my way, not your way, but a third way that is better than either of us would come individually. It is the fruit of mutual respect – of understanding and even celebrating one another’s differences in solving problems, seizing opportunities. Synergistic teams and families thrive on individual strengthsso that the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts. Such relationships and teams denounce defensive adversarialism. (hostility)( 1 + 1 = ½). They don’t settle on compromise ( 1 + 1 = 1 ½) or merely cooperation (1+ 1 = 2).With synergy you go for ( 1+ 1 = 4 or more)

Habit 7: Sharpening the saw is about constantly renewing ourselves in the four basic areas of life : physical, social ( emotional), mental and spiritual. It’s the Habit that increases our capacity to live all other habits of effectiveness. For an organization, Habit 7 promotes vision, renewal continuous improvement, safe guards against burn out and entropy, and puts the organization on a new upward growth path. For a family, it increases effectiveness through regular personal and family activities such as establishing traditions that nurture the spirit of family renewal.

Emotional bank account.

The emotional bank account is a metaphor for the amount of trust in a relationship. Like a financial bank account, it something we make deposits into and withdrawals from. Actions such as seeking first to understand, being kind , making and keeping promises, and being loyal to the absent increase the balance of trust. Being unkind, breaking promises, and gossiping about someone who is absent decrease or even bankrupt the trust in a relationship.

Paradigm.

A Paradigm is the way each person sees the world, not necessarily the way it is in reality. Its the map, not the territory. It’s the lens, through which we view everything, formed by our upbringing and cumulative experiences and choices.

I understand that each of us lead busy lives with full schedules. But i take courage to ask you to make time to read this material, because only when you do so, can we synergize to get the best out of this . I am told that there is a great spiritual practice in India that says one must not focus on the outcome of a technique , rather one must simply be completely involved in the process of the technique and look at the results as sense of feedback alone. I suggest we use the habit 8 notes in this way. Let us apply it , be completely involved in the application and then look at the results in each area ofour lives as a feedback.